Volta
Politics8 February 1919

February Eighth Declaration of Independence

Korean students in Tokyo formed the Korean Youth Independence Corps and read a declaration of independence at the Korean YMCA hall, lighting the spark of the March First Movement.

The February 8 Declaration of Independence, issued in Tokyo in 1919 by the Korean Youth Independence Corps
The February 8 Declaration of Independence, issued in Tokyo in 1919 by the Korean Youth Independence Corps

Korean Young People's Independence Organization (조선청년독립단; 朝鮮靑年獨立團) · Public domain · Source

When the First World War ended and US President Wilson proclaimed national self-determination, activists at home and abroad moved. In 1918 the New Korea Youth Party, founded in Shanghai by Yeo Un-hyeong and others, sent Kim Kyu-sik to the Paris Peace Conference, and exiles in Manchuria and the Maritime Province issued the Korean Declaration of Independence (the Muo declaration). Gojong’s sudden death amid rumours of poisoning inflamed public feeling.

On 8 February 1919 some 600 students read a declaration and resolutions and sent them to the Japanese government and foreign legations. The leaders were arrested, but Song Gye-baek and others smuggled the text home and helped prepare the March First Movement.

Show on the map

The map in 1919

Open the full map

OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles © OpenStreetMap contributors

States and rulers at the time
Japan — Emperor Taishō
Places
Korean YMCA in Japan

People

  • Yeo Un-hyeong1886 – 1947

    related figure · Founded the New Korea Youth Party in Shanghai and in 1944 the underground Korean Founding League at home

  • Kim Maria1892 – 1944

    participant · Student in Tokyo who took part in the February Eighth Declaration and after 1919 led the Korean Patriotic Women’s Association

  • Yi Gwang-su1892 – 1950

    author · Drafted the February Eighth Declaration and wrote the novel "Mujeong"; argued for home rule in "National Policy" and later collaborated with the Japanese authorities (listed in the Dictionary of Pro-Japanese Collaborators)

Before and after

Earlier
1918 Rice Riots of 1918
Later
1919 March First Movement